[BillG]

The brass Ts are marketed to home plumbing systems which are not expected to reach over 160F. They are not marketed towards automotive uses, hence @thetut’s question. The manufacturers guarantee 160F because that’s what their market demands but they have not been tested to see what their true upper limit is.

-Mike

Agreed! Brass is totally fine from a temperature perspective in this situation. The issues I would be concerned with (but not that concerned) would be galvanic corrosion and any potential incompatibility with substances in the coolant. Brass should be fine with all the substances in the coolant, as it's mostly ethylene glycol and I'm 100% sure they use brass for cooling systems in countless other situations. The galvanic corrosion is probably a non-issue. as there's plenty of aluminum in the system, and I don't even know that coolant is conductive, so it may entirely be a non-issue.

As for doing it before your trip, I wouldn't worry about it. Take a trusty roll of duct tape and some wire. If it blows, tape it together with duct tape, wrap it with wire and then tape it again and continue your journey. But it almost certainly WON'T break on that trip.

 

[floridanative]

As for doing it before your trip, I wouldn't worry about it. Take a trusty roll of duct tape and some wire. If it blows, tape it together with duct tape, wrap it with wire and then tape it again and continue your journey. But it almost certainly WON'T break on that trip.

I actually have silicone rescue tape in my tool bag (and duct tape and wire for that matter!). But I already have the brass Ts with me so would probably elect to just install those at that time, even if it’s in a parking lot. Also, if I don’t replace now, I will feel obligated to take my gallon of SLL coolant with me, whereas if they are in I may be less likely to bring that (but knowing me, I may bring it anyway).

But I will be towing 3000-3500 pounds for about 5000 of those miles, so there is that.

-Mike

 

[BillG]

I probably still wouldn't worry about it. I was about 10k miles overdue for a timing belt and didn't get to it before my 1500 mile trip and still drove with confidence that our Siennas are basically bulletproof. I suppose, if you had nothing better to do on a 3-day weekend, you could do it now anyway. Personally, I have to find the leak I created in my washer, finish building my chicken coop, replace my other front hub/bearing, replace my other rear hub/bearing, replace my brake shoes, replace my exhaust and replace my radiator and paint my house between now and the point where it's too cold to work outside. So, my 3-day weekend is already accounted for!

 

[Craigrrr]

Just had one break while on vacation . while towing our 6x12 cargo camper conversion trailer along I40 in New Mexico, had it towed to a shop in Moriarty , NM the shop was Coast 2 Coast this was a sunday am we had road service on our ins. so the cost was only $7.50 they towed the van and the trailer 40 miles. the shop was open they fixed it same day as I did not have the right stuff with me meaning tools to get at the failed tee nor a part. They could not locate a part oem so he asked me if I would not mind if they used a shark bite tee brass of course I said go right ahead ,they drove to another town to pick that up and by 4pm we were off and on our way. He asked us if we wanted to stay in their lot overnight but no we left to get back on the road. So with new antifreeze and the part and being a sunday labor it cost 320 bucks. So I need to replace the other tee now that we are home

 

[floridanative]

@Craigrrr how many miles on the van when it broke?

 

[floridanative]

I bit the bullet and swapped in my brass T’s today. I didn’t want to risk interrupting the trip and I was already changing the engine and trans oil today so was dirty and had the tools out.

At almost 182k miles, my OEM plastic Ts were in pristine shape, so @BillG was spot on… no need to replace them anytime soon. However, after doing it, I really wouldn’t have wanted to do it in a parking lot on the road. I was able to get three clamps in and only lost about a cup of coolant and didn’t make TOO much of a mess.

I re-used all clamps except for the lower clamp on the lower T. It was just too much trouble maneuvering that one around so I replaced it with a worm gear band clamp. I also removed the lower airbox which gave me a lot more room to work.

-Mike

 

[APosguy]

Do yourself a favor. Pay someone else to do it. If I had taken my van in to have someone else do it, I would have paid roughly $300-400, part included. Instead, I bought the part, spent 9 hours of a beautiful Saturday and 5 hours of a beautiful Sunday before I finally gave up and had it towed Monday morning, had to walk 45 minutes to and from work, and then to work the next morning (they had to wait for a new bracket), and paid $210. It has the added bonus that, if it IS the wheel bearing, they'll diagnose it. You won't spend all your time replacing the half-shaft only to find the noise still present.

I got lucky, I was able to remove the hidden bolt on the carrier so only had to cut the hollow part of the axle, job took 3 hours. It took care of some of the noise and vibration, but I need to do passenger side bearing to finish up. I'll post my results in a new post.

 

[supra129]

You guys convinced me to change the tee's at 218k miles. One was ok and came out fine but the other broke as I was trying to wiggle out the hose. One small piece got into the hose once the tee broke but I was able to get it out by tilting the hose down to force it out with the coolant inside. I got the same tee's APosguy linked from Amazon. I lost a quart of coolant and added the same amount due to the broken piece of the tee. I should of done this earlier this summer when I replaced the spark plugs and rear coils since the windshield cowl and air box cover were removed. It would of been a lot easier.

 

[BillG]

You guys are making me consider this upgrade now... I already have enough to do on my van before winter!

 

[supra129]

Yep, that's what I'm trying to do before the snow falls and the cold comes! I think this was my last project of the year besides changing the oil in October. Don't want to be fixing cars in -10 degree weather!

 

[paul r]

You guys convinced me to change the tee's at 218k miles. One was ok and came out fine but the other broke as I was trying to wiggle out the hose.

Nicely done. One of mine broke exactly like yours did. Regarding the T itself I figure I got 16 years and 197k miles out of the oem plastic ones and that was good for me to reinstall oems. It is nice however not to worry about them for l-o-n-g time using the metal Ts.

 

[thebarmecca]

Hi all. I just did this repair a few days ago. One failed so I replaced both of them. They are 5/8x5/8x1/2. AutoZone, Napa, O'Reilly and Advanced Auto did not have in stock. They are about 15.99 for 2 pack on Amazon. I couldn't wait for the next day so I purchased from the dealer. 17.10 each. I recommend going with an factory part or equivalent. Brass or metal are not made for automotive use. I also had to buy the air intake coupling from the mass air flow sensor to the air box. Was damaged and could find it anywhere. Dealer price was 75 bucks ...ouch

 

[thebarmecca]

 

[thebarmecca]

These are the two pack available from Amazon

 

[thebarmecca]

By the way, the job is really easy. Should take about 10 to 15 minutes to remove the air box and replace the heater tees

 

[sixto]

I wonder about using 3/4 x 3/4 x 3/4 fittings. Must be a very tight fit.

I have a couple of these ready to go -

https://www.amazon.com/Four-Seasons-84543-Heater-Fitting/dp/B000DCNGIS/ref=asc_df_B000DCNGIS/

I had brass barbed fittings on an Econoline for years with no issue so I wouldn’t hesitate. I don’t know what these Four Seasons fittings are made of but they’re sold as automotive heater system parts. I think Dorman also offers metal fittings in this size.

Sixto
‘04 LE FWD 201K miles

 

[APosguy]

I used 3/4-in barbed brass fittings, link is in the first post, they were fine. Half inch would have been way too small for my '09.

I'm sure this car will be long gone by the time the brass fittings fail.

 

[Beebs2005sienna]

I finally did this on my 05 XLE with 205k. Those plastic tees were stuck to the hose so had to use a hose tool to loosen them. One of the tees just fell apart. The other one cracked easily so definitely fatigued. Replaced one with brass 3/4x5/8x3/4, tight fit and used larger hose clamps. I couldn’t fit another brass tee same size on the other hoses, too tight. So I opted for oem plastic tee. Fit just right and used oem spring clamps. I used the plastic tee on the outside set of hoses so they’ll be easier to replace next time. The other brass tee should last the life of the van.
Replaced both vvt solenoids also since there’s small oil leak coming from there.
Next is replacing the differential and transfer case fluid but that’s for another post.

 

[thebarmecca]

The original size is 5/8 x 5/8 x 1/2. Seeing how my Sienna is an 06 with 300k miles, I have faith that the new original replacements will last another 300k miles

 

[sixto]

I finally had a moment to replace the fittings. Not a difficult job but not easy on the back. One plastic fittings had both 5/8” flares broken off, the other had one 5/8” flare broken off. The hoses twisted off the fittings easily but I don’t know if losing the flares was from twisting or disintegration in service that broke off the flares. Both 1/2” flares were intact.

I couldn’t get all the broken flare bits out of the hoses. I hope they don’t lodge in the water pump and cause problems

What colorful language is involved getting a 1/2” hose over a 3/4” barb

Sixto
‘04 LE FWD 203K miles